The relationship between five-factor personality and willingness of employees to share organizational knowledge

Transcription

1 The relationship between five-factor personality and willingness of employees to share organizational knowledge Esmaeil Gharanjik Department of management, Islamic azad university, Gorgan branch, gomishan center, gomishan,iran. Ferydon Azma Department of Management, Aliabad Katoul Branch, Islamic Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran Abstract The current research is done with the aim of investigating the relationship between five-factor personality and willingness of employees to share organizational knowledge in the units of Azad University in Golestan(Iran) province. The type of the research is co relational in which 320 people (men=180, women=140) were selected by sampling method from among the employees and faculty members of Azad University units in Golestan(Iran) province. The exam takers were selected by stratified sampling method to measure. They answered inventory personality dimension (NEO) and willingness to share knowledge (Lin) to measure dimensions of personality and willingness to share knowledge. Dates obtained were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient. The results of Pearson correlation coefficient showed that dimensions of experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness have a positive and that Neuroticism had a negative relation with the willingness to share knowledge. Keywords: willingness to share knowledge, Agreeableness,Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to experience, Extroversion 1.Introduction: Nowadays, as organizations focus on the application of human capital in facing restrictions of the labor market, Employees are looking for spreading their knowledge throughout the organization.therefore; old and traditional competitive tools are not 76

2 effective. Nowadays, traditional tools for promotion in the organization such as information monopoly and preventing the success of colleagues are unacceptable. Many organizations in order to control knowledge of their colleagues apply new technologies. Employees are recommended to use the Internet, Database, Repository of Knowledge, Decision Support Tools and group tools. Typically, in any organization there are those who willing to sharing and dissemination of knowledge, and there are also those who prefer to keep knowledge as a private asset. knowledge Sharing is known as a positive force in creating innovative organizations. However, the factors that promote and encourage the sharing of knowledge among employees must be determined. In this study psychological and personality factors that influence sharing of knowledge are identified. In fact, relevancy of factors such as personality traits of employees with their attitude toward sharing of knowledge is studied. However, knowledge-sharing culture in the organization is related to personality traits and personal attitude that has created this culture 1.1. knowledge Sharing Almost a decade ago, Peter Drucker (2001, p. 4) predicted, "the next society will be the knowledge society. Knowledge will be its key resource, and knowledge workers will be the dominant group in its workforce." Today organizations are becomingincreasingly aware of knowledge as the source of competitive advantage (Conner &Prahalad, 1996; Grant, 1996; Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998; Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995;Pettigrew & Whip, 1993). Knowledge embodies an organization's intangible assets that are unique and nonsubstitutable (Grant, 1996; Liebeskind, Oliver, Zucker, & Brewer,1996; Spender, 1996). Knowledge naturally exists in all organizations; however, just like with any other resource, it must be utilized. Existing knowledge can only become asource of competitive advantage if it is used effectively and efforts are made to generateand act upon new knowledge (Alavi & Leidner, 2001). Thus, researchers and managers have come to realize that in today's highly competitive economy, knowledge management is the key to organizational success (Goh, 2002; Leonard & Swap, 2004). One of the priorities announced by knowledge management researchers was creating motivation among individuals to share their knowledge (King, 2006). Although some believe that knowledge is powerful, it seems that knowledge by itself has now power and what gives individuals the power is the part of knowledge which they share with others 77

3 (McDermott, 2006). knowledge Sharing is a set of activity which help those groups working together improve exchange of knowledge between them, gain inclination to learn more and improve their abilities to achieve their personal and organizational goals.sharing and transferring knowledge provides opportunities for maximizing organization`s power to meet its needs, increasing efficiency to solve problems and achieving competitive advantage. Knowledge sharing is a social interaction culture which contains staff knowledge exchange, experiences and skills in all parts of organizations (Riege, 2005). Sharing knowledge in knowledge management is so important that some authors have suggested" Presence of knowledge management is for supporting knowledge sharing"( Huysman&Wit,2000).The reason behind this importance is that knowledge sharing causes cost reduction, performance improvement, service improvement to customers, reduction of development time for new products, reduction of time delays in delivering goods to customers and finally reduction of costs related to finding types of valuable knowledge within the organization(alvai & Linder, 2001). Personality is an effective factor in creating individual differences. Although theorists don`t agree with providing only one single definition of personality, we can say that personality is a kind of pattern which makes stability of traits, inclinations and individuals durable (Wilkoxon,2006) five-factor personality Studies of personality traits are considered an important improvement in the field of personality psychology which made the field assessment of measurement possible. By late 1930`s, there was little agreement between personality psychologists and theorists on evaluation and measurement of personality, (Panayiotou et al.,2004). In recent years, five-factor model of personality as a popular and powerful method for studying personality characteristic has been considered important by the psychologist. The model is based on the principle that man is rational and can justify his personality and behavior (McCrae & Costa). This model explains personality based on five powerful factors including" Extroversion", "Agreeableness ", " Conscientiousness", "Neurotisim ", "Openness to experience ". Extroversion represents an energetic achievement to the material and social world which contains characteristics like social integration, decisiveness and 78

4 courage.(elliot&thrash,2002) Agreeableness shows social and comprehensive orientation against hostile feedback toward others and has following characteristic,friendship with others, Kindness, Trust and Humility.(Lawson,1999) Conscientiousness describes inhibition power against arousal so that is aware of it and facilitates task-oriented and goal-oriented behavior. Conscientiousness also contains characteristics like thinking before act, delay of satisfying demands, abiding by the laws and norms, organizing, and prioritizing assignments (John&Serivastava,1999). Neuroticisim means any trend to experience negative emotions like feelings of anxiety, fear, sadness and stress against emotional stability and composure. Neurosis is a streak of personality in which high emotional stability and low anxiety exist in one direction and emotional instability and anxiety exist on another direction (Howard&Howard,1998). Those individuals receiving high mark on openness to experience are curious on their inner and outer world and their life is empirically rich. Openness to experience describes the extent, depth, complexity and innovative nature of mental life and individual experience against a closed mind (John&Serivastava, 1999) five-factor personality and willingness knowledge Sharing What is important in sharing knowledge is identifying a set of personality behaviors which are effective on individual's desire and satisfaction for sharing organizational knowledge. Studies of personality analysis are useful for predicting individual`s behavior in their working place (Barrick & Mount, 1993). According to Nonaka`s investigation in 1994, knowledge at a basic level is created by individuals. Organizations are not able to create knowledge without individuals. In fact, organizations form the process of creation and sharing of knowledge. If organizations can identify effective factors which increase individual`s trend to share organizational knowledge, then they will be able to easily improve knowledge sharing (Nonaka, 1994). In a study conducted on372 employees in multinational companies, Cabrera, Collins and Salgado (2006) concluded that there is a relationship between five dimensions of personality and willingness to share knowledge. Cabrera and others 2006 realized that three dimensions of Agreeabeness, openness to experience and conscientiousness have a direct relation with sharing knowledge. Neurotsim and Extraversion which were among two remaining out of five dimensions, Cabrera found no relation with sharing knowledge (Cabrera et al.,2006). Based on studies done by Wang and Yang2007 in Taiwan and in 79

5 order to investigate the relationship between five dimension personality and sharing knowledge, they concluded that there is a direct relation between dimensions of Agreeabeness, openness, conscientiousness and extraversion and sharing knowledge, while Neuroticisim has negative relations with sharing knowledge (Wang and Yang, 2007). According to studies done by Matzler, molar and Herting 2008 in a German company, it became clear that Agreeabeness, conscientiousness and openness have a direct relation with sharing knowledge (Matzler et al.,2008). Also Solana 2009 in the United States confirmed the relation between conscientiousness, openness and Agreeabeness with employee's willingness to share organizational knowledge. 2. Methodology The purpose of current research is correlation explanatory based on type and application of research methods. The statistical societies under study in this research are employees and faculty members of Azad University units in Golestan(Iran) province from which 320 individuals were selected by stratified sampling method as statistical sample (170 employees, 150 faculty members). Questionnaires are the main tool for measuring in this research which are a common tool for research and a direct object for gaining research datas. These questionnaires contained 70 questions and were designed using Likert spectrum.the questionnaire used for measuring five dimensions of personality, NEO questionnaire (Short form) and questionnaire of willingness to share Lin knowledge. Cronbach`s alpha for stability of personality dimension questions was and stability of willingness questions share was 0.82 These numbers show that the questionnaire used has a suitable stability. In this research the hypotheses are measured by Pearson correlation coefficient. 3. Findings 80

6 Table 1: Pearson correlation Willingness to share knowledge Pearson correlation sig.(tailed) N Extraversion Agreeableness 0.528* Conscientiousness 0.512* Neuroticism * Openness to Experience 0.492* * P < 0.05 ** P < 0.01 Hypothesis 1.Extaversion will positively relate to willingness to share knowledge. Inspection of table 1 shows a non-significant between extraversion and willingness to share knowledge.(r=0.150,p>.05) Hypothesis 2.Agreeableness will positively relate to willingness to share knowledge. Inspection of table 1 shows,agreeableness was positively relate with willingness to share knowledge.(r=.528, p<.05) Hypothesis 3.Conscientiousness will positively relate to willingness to share knowledg Inspection of table 1 shows, Conscientiousness was positively relate with willingness to share knowledge.(r=.512, p<.05) Hypothesis 4.Neurotism will negatively relate to willingness to share knowledge Inspection of table 1 shows, Neurotism was negatively and significantly relate with willingness to share knowledge.(r= -.424, p<.05) Hypothesis 5.Openness to experience will positively relate to willingness to share knowledge. Inspection of table 1 shows, Openness to experience was positively relate with willingness to share knowledge.(r=.492, p<.05) 81

7 4. Discussion What is significant in sharing knowledge is identifying a set of behaviors which are effective in individual's willingness to share knowledge. Considering this reality that individuals share their knowledge, their personality characteristic becomes effective in their willingness to share knowledge. Also the results of correlation coefficient confirm the relations between personality dimension and willingness to share knowledge. The results achieved are consistent with the results of Barrick1993, Cabrera 2006, Wang and Yang 2007, Matzler and mooler2008, and Solano 2009 in which they found out the relation between personality dimensions and willingness to share knowledge. Those individuals having Agreeableness characteristic are basically on friendship type. They have sympathy for others, they are eager to help others and believe that other can help them, too. These individuals are engaged in their work and this way they share their knowledge and experiences with others. They believe that other too share their knowledge with them. Results of correlation coefficient also confirm the relation between Agreeableness and employees willingness to share organizational knowledge. This result agrees with the results of researches done by Cobrera2006, Wang and Yang 2007, Matzler 2008 and Solano2009 in which they found out the relationship between extraversion dimension and willingness to share knowledge. Individual`s Conscientiousness in knowledge may be focused as part of their important work and they think that gaining and sharing knowledge with others is important as part of organization`s daily work. They also believe that they can share their knowledge and skills in the direction of organization`s improvement. The results of correlation coefficient also confirm the relation between conscientiousness and willingness to share knowledge. This result is consistent with the results of Cobrera2006, Wang and Yang2007, Matzler 2008 and Solano 2009 in which they found out the relation between conscientiousness and willingness to share knowledge. In this research there wasn t any relation between extraversion and willingness to share knowledge and this agrees with research results of Cabrera2006, matzler2008, solano2009, but it was not consistent with the research results of Wang and Yang2007 which had caused the creation of a relation between extraversion and willingness to share. Those individuals having negative feelings like anger, anxiety and stress, don t have necessary stability. They are so busy on their internal and mental problems that make 82

8 them oblivious of their external events and stimuli. This neglect causes them not to meet the expectations of the environment in which they work. Transferring their knowledge and skills with their coworkers is among these expectations. The results of correlation coefficient also confirm the negative relation between neurosis and willingness to share knowledge. This result does not agree with the results gained by cobrera 2006 in which there was no relation between extraversion and willingness to share knowledge, but does agree with the results achieved by Wang and Yang 2007 on the existence of a negative relation between neurosis and willingness to share knowledge. Openness to experience has a relation with imagination, curiosity, a sense of artistic and so on. Individuals enjoy new things and openness which contain new and varied knowledge as they try to share their knowledge. They also try to use other`s knowledge and experiences. The results of correlation coefficient also confirm the relation between openness and willingness to share knowledge. These results confirm with the research results of Cobrera2006, Wang and Yang 2007, Matzler 2008 and Solano 2009 in which they found the existence of relation between opens to experience and willingness to share knowledge. References [1] Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E). Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly, Vol 25,,pp [2] Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. K. and Piotrowski, M. "Negative Affectivity: The Disposition to Experience Aversive Emotional States ", Psychological Bulletin,Vol. 96, pp [3] Cabrera, A., Collins, W. C, & Salgado, J. F. Determinants of individual engagement in knowledge sharing. International Journal of Human Resource.Vol.52, pp [4] Conner, K. R., & Prahalad, C. K. A resource-based theory of the firm: Knowledge versus opportunism. Organization Science, Vol, 7. pp , 1996 [5]Costa Jr., P. T., & McCrae, R. R. Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-factor Inventory (NEO-FFI): Professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources [6] Elliot, A. J & Thrash, T. M.Approach- avoidance motivation in personality: approach and avoidance temperament and goals, Journal of personality and social psychology,vol, 82.,pp [7] Grant, R. M. Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal,Vol, 17,.pp

9 [8] Goh, S. Managing effective knowledge transfer. Journal of Knowledge Management, 6, doi: 2002 [9] Howard, O. J., & Howard, K. J. M. introduction to five factor model personality forhuman resource professionals. Retrieved June 7,1998 [10] Huysman, M. & de Wit, D. Knowledge management in practice. In Edwards,J. & Kidd, J. (Eds.) Knowledge Management Conference (KMAC 2000), Birmingham,UK. [11] John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. The Big Fivetrait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoreticalperspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John(Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research.pp New York: Guilford Press [12] King, W. R. Maybe a knowledge culture isn t always so important after all.information Systems Management.Vol, 23, pp , 2006 [13] Lawson, L.Determinants of goal orientation, Paper presented at theannual meeting of the academy of management, Chicago, IL [14] Matzler, K., Renzl, B., Muller, J., Herting, S., & Mooradian, T. A. Personality traits and knowledge sharing. Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol.29.,pp , 2008 [15] McDermott, R.,&O Dell,C Overcoming cultural barriers to sharing knowledge, Journal of Knowledge Management,Vol.5, pp , 2001 [16] Nonaka, I. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science, Vol.5, pp [17] Panayiotou G., Kokkinos C.M., & Spanoudis G. searching for Big Five in a Greek context: the NEOFFI under the microscope,.2004 [18] Ryu, S., Hee Ho, S., & Han, I. Knowledge sharing behavior of physicians in hospitals. Expert Systems with Applications, Vol 25(1), 2003,pp [19 ]Riege,A.Three-dozen knowledge-sharing barriers managers must consider, Journal of Knowledge Management,Vol.9.No.3., pp [20] Wang, C.-C, & Yang, Y.-J. Personality and intention to share knowledge: Anempirical study of scientists in an R&D laboratory. Social Behavior and Personality.Vol. 35, pp , 2007 [21] Wilkoxon. Lesley, Chatham. Robina, Testing the Accuracy of the Streotype: Profiling IT Managers Personality and Behavioral Characteristics ; Journal of Information and Management, Vol , pp